I. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to a fuel injection system, and more particularly to a method for injecting gaseous fuel derived from an electrolytically vaporized emulsion of gasoline and water into an internal combustion engine.
II. Description of the Relevant Art
I recognized some time ago a major shortcoming in the field of hydrocarbon fueled internal combustion engines. Much of the fuel was still in liquid form at the start of the combustion chamber explosion despite the fact that both the fuel economy of the engine and the cleanliness of its exhaust would be improved if the charge were in pure vapor form. Since only the vapor derived from the liquid hydrocarbon (usually gasoline) is explosive, any excess unburned hydrocarbon liquid in the combustion chamber substantially reduces the efficiency of the engine. Therefore, I realized that it would be advantageous to develop a fuel system in which the engine was powered by fuel in the gaseous state.
Through extensive research and development, I invented a unique liquid fuel composition and a novel arrangement for vaporizing that fuel to achieve a vapor fuel that would be provided directly to the combustion chamber. Engines fueled by vapor in accordance with my invention attained higher fuel efficiencies than did conventionally fueled engines. My invention was disclosed in various forms in my prior patents, U.S. Pat. Nos.: 4,011,843; 4,133,847; 4,158,551; 4,246,082; and 4,276,131.
One of my patents, U.S. Pat. No. 4,011,843 discloses a vaporized fuel for an internal combustion engine and a method and apparatus for producing the same. I found that conventional hydrocarbon fuels such as gasoline could not be vaporized even with the addition of electrolytes, since electrolytes did not homogeneously mix with gasoline. However, the addition of appropriate electrolytes to certain water-hydrocarbon emulsions produced liquid fuel that could be vaporized through the passage of electric current to produce vapor charges containing both hydrocarbons and water. The particular composition of liquid fuel broadly consisted of water-hydrocarbon emulsions with added electrolytes and proved highly stable over all operating conditions. The increases in fuel economy which resulted from the vaporized state of the fuel charge and the presence of water vapor and free hydrogen in the fuel charge outweighed the energy consumption of the system vaporizing the fuel, thus increasing the fuel economy of engines fueled in accordance with my invention.
I first developed my vaporized fuel system for a carburetor based engine. Thus, once the fuel was vaporized, it was provided to a carburetor which mixed the vapor with incoming air and provided an explosive charge to the input valves of the engine cylinders. The carburetor was controlled by an accelerator which controlled the charge flow to the cylinders and thus the speed of the engine. Unfortunately, some of the characteristics of a carburetor based system did not work well with my invention.
Recently, it has become well-known that fuel injection systems offer much greater efficiency than carburetor-based systems since the input of fuel to the cylinders may be precisely controlled. Modern fuel injection systems are generally divided into two classifications. Throttle body fuel injection (TBI) systems use a central injection point with one or two injectors for all of the engine's cylinders. Multiport fuel injection (MPI) systems feature an injector at each cylinder port. Both TBI and MPI systems inject carefully metered bursts of fuel into the engine. MPI systems offer substantial advantages over TBI systems and are typically favored in today's engines.
The great majority of fuel injectors in use today are designed for injecting liquid fuels to the combustion chamber. Fuel in the gaseous state exhibits a much lower density than liquid fuels. Therefore, gaseous fuels must be delivered to the engine at volume flow rates significantly higher than liquid fuels. Further, the flow rate of a gaseous fuel must be precisely controlled to achieve proper engine performance, low exhaust emissions, and good fuel economy. Existing carburetors and fuel injectors designed for liquid fuels are not capable of delivering gaseous fuels at the required flow rates, and with the needed degree of precision.
Gaseous fuel injection systems are known. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,201,299 issued to Kong, discloses a rotary gaseous fuel injector for injecting gaseous fuel into an internal combustion engine. U.S. Pat. No. 5,329,908 issued to Tarr discloses a natural gas injection system for gaseous fueled engines.
However, I am not aware of previous fuel injection systems in which the fuel is liquid at ambient temperatures and pressures and is vaporized and then injected into the cylinders of an internal combustion engine.